28 January, 2021 Open access
28 January, 2021 Open access
However, following spike in blocked and unanswered calls in November 2020, Minister confirms plan to deploy around 450 new staff to answering calls in next three months
Almost 4,000 calls to DWP Debt Management went unanswered in the first week of January 2021, the Minister for Welfare Delivery Will Quince has confirmed.
In November 2020, a spike in the number of calls to Debt Management - which occurred following the recommencement of debt recovery by the DWP in July 2020 after a three-month pause due to the outbreak of Covid-19 - led to more than 50,000 calls per day being blocked.
Seeking further information, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee Stephen Timms tabled a Parliamentary written question on 20 January 2021 asking for the number of calls made, blocked and unanswered between August and December 2020. While DWP Permanent Secretary Peter Schofield had previously told Mr Timms that this was 'not data the DWP would normally publish', Mr Quince responded advising that telephony traffic in Debt Management since August 2020 was as set out in the table below -
| Call attempts | Calls answered | Calls blocked | Calls not answered | |
| August | 153,800 | 102,400 | 22,200 | 29,300 |
| September | 282,100 | 127,900 | 101,600 | 52,600 |
| October | 221,800 | 147,500 | 41,800 | 32,500 |
| November | 605,300 | 149,600 | 413,700 | 42,000 |
| December | 278,900 | 122,600 | 129,400 | 26,900 |
| January* | 46,500 | 42,700 | 100 | 3,700 |
| *to 11 January 2021 | ||||
Mr Quince added -
'We have since updated our telephone messaging and guidance for call handlers as well as redeploying trained staff from clearing work to answering calls.
In addition, DWP expects to deploy approximately 450 new staff to the network in the next three months.'
Mr Quince's written answer is available from parliament.uk
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